The press release reports that South African trade unions and human rights and anti-apartheid groups have scheduled protests on March 12, "National Detainees Day," when the Detainees Parents' Support Committee has called for a fast to focus attention on the more than 28,000 people detained without trial during the last year. Conditions in jails have been so bad that detainees have gone on hunger strikes to protest their treatment. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has called a one-day stay-away in the eastern coastal city of Port Elizabeth on the same day to protest the dismissal of more than 500 workers by a company formerly owned by General Motors.
